Research Presentation Postponed

The Dec. 15 presentation by senior associate dean for research Stephen Strakowski, MD, has been postponed.

Due to the upcoming holidays, the event will be rescheduled for early January. In a memo today to college faculty and staff, Dean and Vice President for Health Affairs Thomas Boat, MD, wrote that he expects to announce a rescheduled date within the next week.

Sandra Degen, PhD

Degen Named AAAS Fellow, Two Other UC Faculty Honored

Sandra Degen, PhD, associate chair for academic affairs in the pediatrics department and interim chair of the molecular genetics, biochemistry and microbiology department, has been awarded the distinction of Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

She is being honored for her research on blood protein and coagulation and her service as an administrator in her former role as UC’s vice president for research, mentor of faculty to high school students and advocate of gender equality.

Vernon Scarborough, PhD, Distinguished University Research Professor and Charles Phelps Taft Professor in Anthropology, and Joseph Caruso, PhD, professor of chemistry, were also among this year’s 539 honorees.

New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and rosette pin Feb. 18, 2012, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Robert (Bob) Wones, MD

John Deledda, MD

Wones and Deledda Appointed to New UC Health Positions

In a Dec. 6 memo to UC Health associates and staff, UC Health leadership announced the appointments of Robert (Bob) Wones, MD, to UC Health vice president and chief quality & medical informatics officer, and John Deledda, MD, to vice president of medical affairs at UC Health University Hospital.

In his expanded role, Wones will assume leadership of the remaining phases of the UC Health initiative to bring a full-featured Electronic Health Record system to the entire organization by the second half of 2012. He will report to Myles Pensak, MD, CEO of UC Physicians, and Rick Hinds, UC Health executive vice president & chief financial officer.

Wones, a professor of medicine, will continue to serve as UC Health’s chief quality officer.

Deledda will assume the responsibilities previously held by Wones as University Hospital’s vice president of medical affairs. In his new role, he will direct, plan and implement all medical-related activities at the hospital, including maintaining standards for medical practices and policies.

Deledda, an assistant professor of emergency medicine, currently serves as the chief of staff of the University Hospital medical staff and the division director of operations within the UC Department of Emergency Medicine.

Translational Research

Applications Requested for CCTST Research Ethics and Methods Grants

The Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training (CCTST) requests applications for innovative research addressing ethical issues in clinical and translational research and biostatistical, epidemiological and other methods developments.

The Research Ethics Grant Program supports interdisciplinary empirical research and summer faculty research fellowships that aim to develop, inform, or apply morally, socially and culturally acceptable frameworks that maximize the ethics of conducting clinical and translational research. Up to $10,000 may be requested for a one year, non-renewable award, or $8,000 for summer stipend support. Deadline is midnight Friday, Jan. 20, 2012.

The Methodologic Research Program advances methodologic research in biostatistics, epidemiology, bioinformatics and related disciplines in order to enhance the capacity to conduct and analyze data from clinical and translational studies. Up to $10,000 may be requested for a one year, non-renewable award. Deadline is midnight Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012.

Brain Tumor Molecular Therapeutics Program Awards Proposals

The UC Brain Tumor Molecular Therapeutics Program Pilot Grant Program has awarded three $50,000 grants to UC researchers for their proposals on brain metastases-related research pilot projects.

Applicants presented their project during a special event held on Nov. 3, 2011, to a panel of Brain Tumor Center and UC Cancer Institute members, including visiting professor and external member to the Molecular Therapeutics Scientific Advisory Board, Isaiah Fidler, DVM, PhD.

The final awarding of the grants was determined by the UC Brain Tumor MTP Scientific Advisory Board Selection Committee. The awardees are as follows:

Pankaj B. Desai, PhD, professor of pharmacy, for his submission, "Combination of HDAC Inhibitor with Letrozole: A Novel Approach for Treating Brain Metastases of Breast Cancer.”

CCTST Grand Rounds on Research vs. Standard of Care Dec. 16

The distinction between research and standard of care is the topic of the next Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training (CCTST) Grand Rounds at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 16, in Medical Sciences Building Room 2351.

From noon to 1 p.m., a panel discussion will focus on "The Delineation of Research and Standard of Care from the Researcher and Provider Perspectives.” Robert Frenck Jr., MD, executive chair of the Cincinnati Children’s Internal Review Board (IRB), will serve as moderator.

HSGA Food Drive Benefits Freestore Foodbank

The Foodbank is currently in need of nutritious, nonperishable canned and packaged foods and personal care items. Donation bins are located at the MSB’s first floor by the elevators, in the Vontz Center’s main lobby, Metabolic Diseases Institute (Reading Campus) main lobby and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center 7th Floor atrium.

Monetary donations will also be accepted. Contact Meaghan Waltmann at waltmamd@mail.uc.edu for more information.

IvaDean Benefit Concert

Benefit Concert Raises $3,378 for Scholarships

The 2011 IvaDean Scholarship Benefit Concert, held Dec. 2, raised $3,378 for its scholarship fund through entrance fees, gifts on behalf of the concert and silent auction bids.

The IvaDean Scholarship Fund was initiated by the College of Medicine’s class of 2003 to honor assistant dean IvaDean Lair and her 40-plus years of service to the college and help students with medical school tuition.

Since its founding, individual donors and student-led fundraisers have raised more than $1.5 million for the fund and more than 70 medical students have received scholarships.

Department of Internal Medicine "Current Controversies in Clinical Medicine” Grand Rounds Dec. 14: Donald Schoch, MD, division of digestive diseases, department of internal medicine, will present a case of possible celiac disease and lead an interactive discussion about the approach to evaluating the disease, at noon in MSB 7051.